From February 14th-15th 2008, we successfully captured and radio-collared 20 female bighorn sheep in the Teton Range, in northwest Wyoming for the Teton Range Bighorn Sheep Study. For each captured bighorn sheep, we fitted her with a GPS radio-collar, recorded her weight and age, and collected a blood sample for pregnancy testing.
The GPS radio-collars are programmed to automatically connect with orbiting satellites and record the bighorn sheep’s GPS location every 5 hours and store the information inside the collar. After 2 years, the radio-collars automatically release from the bighorn sheep. We then collect the collars from the field, and download the location information, producing a map of the animal’s travels for the entire 2 years.
By looking at these spatial data for all 20 radio-collared bighorn sheep we can get an idea of which areas in the Teton Range are most important for the population during summer and winter,important travel corridors,and identify crucial bighorn sheep habitat areas to protect in the future.
Above photos courtesy: Mark Gocke, Wyoming Game and Fish
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